Power transmission device



I s. E. MQLYNEUX 1,950,992 POWER TRANSMISSION DEVICE Filed Sept. 25,1931 5 Sheets-Sheet l 'INVENTOR A TTOR! March 13, 1934.

s. E. MOLYNEUX 1,950,992 POWER TRANSMISSIQN DEVICE Filed Sept. 25, 19315 Sheets-Sheet 2 k F I a) v) Q Q v w *4 *l Q Q. g

W N m Q @3 l 2 Q .3 s a k l 1 ATTOR March 13, 1934. G. E. MOLYNEUX1,950,992

POWER TRANSMI SSION DEVICE Filed Sept. 25, 1951 5 Sheets-Sheet 3INVENTOR March 13, 1934.

.s. E. MO-LYNEUX "1,950,992

POWER TRANSMISSION DEVICE Filed Sept. 25, 1931 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTORmuy By 1 v M47,

A TTORNEXO' 1 March 13, 1934. MOLYNEUX 1,950,992

POWER TRANSMI SSION DEVICE Filed Sept. 25, 1931 5 Shgets-Sheet 5 a? 11vVENTOR l f pl Patented Mar. 13, 1934 I I UNITED STATES PATENT o Fl ca1.953.: r 'Lffififfififi Alma!!! September 5, 1.931, 861'! NO. 585352 7r 10mm. (01. 14-59) This invention has been developed with partic-Figure 1 is a view in side elevation of the transular reference to itsapplication to motor vemission mechanism, the housing being shown inhicles, but its applicability to other uses, wherever section and, witha manual control lever, broken it is desirable to control automaticallythe speed away. v i

of transmission as between a driving member and Figure 2 is a view ofthe same partly in side ele- 59 a driven member, will be readilyapparent. The vation and partly in longitudinal section, on a mainpurpose of the invention is to enable the larger scale and broken away.engagement of different transmission gears to be Figure 3 is a detailview in section on the plane determined by the speed of the drivingmember, indicated by the broken line 3-3 of Figure 1 it being alsopossible to influence such engageand also on a-larger scale. ment by thespeed of the driven member. In- Figures 4, 5 and 6 are detail views insection cidentally to the attainment of themain purpose respectively onthe broken lines 4-4, 5-5 and of the invention it has been sought alsoto pro- 6-6 of Figure 1 and on a larger scale. vide effective means forcarrying out the general Figure '7 is a detail view in section on theplane purpose, which is accomplished through the use indicatedby thebroken line 7-7 of Figure 4, 70

of overrunning clutches interposed at suitable and j I points in thechain of gears, the effective engage- Figure 8 is a view in isometricperspective of ment of each of such overrunning clutches being one ofthe clutch rings and its pins. controlled by centrifugal action. Theclutches In the embodiment of the invention illustrated are preferablyof the roller type, in which the in the drawings a shaft a, which may becoupled 75 rollers tend normally to move into effective posito a motorand may be taken as the driving memtion, such tendency beingsupplemented by her, is mounted in a suitable bearing in a houssprings,the rollers being moved out of effective ing a and may have securedthereto a gear 11 position by devices the operation of which is conwhichis preferably of the herringbone type and trolled by centrifugal bodiessubjected to the meshes with a corresponding gear 0 on a Jack 50 speedof rotation of the rotating part to which sham-mounted insuitablebearings in the housthey are related. In the particularembodiment ing. A shaft d parallel with the shaft 0 is shown of theinvention chosen for explanation of its as supported at one end in thegear b and at the nature the centrifugal bodies, pivotally mounted otherend in a suitable bearing in the housing.

on one rotating part, act upon a sliding ring which It may be taken tobe the driven member.

carries pins parailelwith the axis of rotation The shaft c supports areverse gear e, what and each in operative relation with one of the maybe termed an emergency gear), an overclutch rollers, the pin' beingarmed with a cam running or one-way clutch a, a slow speed gear toothwhich coacts with a circumferential h, a clutch i, a clutch k and asecond speed gear 1.

groove of the pin formed with inclined sides. Theshaftd supportsagearmwhich is splined The tooth bears normally upon one of the inon theshaft, as indicated at m so that it may be clined sides of the groove,holding the roller out moved longitudinally on the shaft while remainofeffective position. As the centrifugal weight ing in rotative engagementtherewith. The gear flies out under the influence of increased speed 1has a grooved hub m engaged by a fork-m.

40 of rotation the cam tooth is first moved to a powhich is carried by anotched shaft m engaged sition which permits the roller to be moved byby a spring detent m and operatively connected normal actionsupplemented, it may be, by spring with a manual lever m by which thegear m can action, into effective position, closing the clutch be movedinto engagement either with the reverse and P rmitting the ransmi i Of Pw r from gear or the emergency gear I so that the shaft d one member ofthe clutch to the other. If the may be driven either from the reversegear or 100 speed increases beyond a predetermined degree from theemergency gear. As shown, both the g the cam tooth may be moved furtherin the same reverse gear and .the emergency gear are ardirection andthereby made to coast with the ranged at the same side of the gear m butobviother inclinediside of .the groove of the clutch ously they might bearranged one at one side roller and thereby to cause the roller tobemoved and one at the other side of the same. The hub 105 again out ofeffective engagement. m is also formed with, clutch teeth, as at m",

Th invention will b more fully explained for engagement with a gear tobe mentioned, so hereinafter with reference to the accompanying that thedriven shaft 11 may, at will, be driven drawings, in which the chosenembodiment is from such gear.

illustrated, and in which: i -Mounted on the shaft 4 a a clutch a andmounted loosely thereon is a sleeve'o which carries at one end a gear1), for'engagement with the second speed gear I, and at the other end agear q, for engagement with the low speed gear h, the hub of the gear qbeing formed with clutch teeth q for coaction with the clutch teeth m ofthe gear m. The several clutches g, i, k and 72, each being speedcontrolled, are similarly constructed and description of one will answerfor each of the others, except for such differences as will be called toattention.

Taking first the clutch i, the details of which are shown in Figures 1,2, 4, 5, 7 and 8, it will be seen that there is secured on the shaft 0an annular block or ring 2' in the arms 2' of which are pivotallymounted bell-cranks z" the long arm of each of which carries acentrifugal weight 1' while the shorter arm engages a peripherallygrooved ring i mounted loosely on the shaft 0 The ring 2' has secured toit, in parallelism with the shaft 0 three pins 1', each of which, in theconstruction shown, is armed with two cam teeth 2'". The pins 2' areheld in parallelism, in spaced relation, by plates 1' which, asindicated by dotted lines in Figure 2, are secured, at opposite sides,to the body of the gear h, which is formed with tapered recesses i toreceive the clutch rollers i Each clutch roller 1' is formed with acircumferential groove between oppositely inclined side walls 1", i". Inthe normal operation of such a clutch the rollers i tend to move intothe shallower portions of the recesses i and to effect engagementbetween the outer walls of these recesses and the periphery of the shaftc Such a normal tendency is preferably supplemented by springs 2'". Itwill be observed that a spring Y 1' is applied to each bell-crank f tohold the centrifugal body toward the ring or block 2' againstcentrifugal action and it will be observed further that thecorresponding springs of the several clutches g, i, k and n areincreasingly heavier in the order named so that, as the speed of thedriving member a is increased from idling speed, the clutch i shallfirst become effective and each of the other clutches k and 11 shallthereafter become effective in succession as the speed of the drivingmember is further increased. It will also be noted here that as eachsuccessive clutch becomes effective the clutch of each lower speed andof all lower speeds becomes ineffective by reason of the centrifugalaction assisted by the overrunning of the clutch of lower speed as theclutch of next higher speed becomes effective.

- The clutch g comprises an annular block 9 fixed to the shaft 0bell-crank levers g with their centrifugal bodies 9 springs g groovedcollar g pins g with cam teeth a", spacing plates 9 and' springs g". p

The block or ring i of the shaft 0 common to the clutch i and the clutchis, supports the bellcrank levers k with their weights k and springs in.The grooved ring k engaged by the bellcrank levers k carries the pins7:: which are armed with cam teeth k to coact with the rollers 10 one ofwhich is shown in dotted lines in Figure 1. The rollers la are adaptedto effect driving engagement between the shaft 0 and the gear I and toeffect disengagement therebetween.

The clutch n which is adapted to effect driving engagement between thedriving member a, with its gear b, and the driven shaft d, comprises,similarly, bell-crank levers n which are pivotally mounted on the gearb, weights n springs n grooved ring 115 and pins 11. with their camteeth 1''. The grooved rollers n shown in broken lines the acceleratorthe motor will in Figures 1 and 6, are acted upon by springs 12" and areadapted to effect driving engagement between the driven shaft d and asleeve 11, the hub 11. of which is fixed in the gear b and supports thegrooved ring 11.

It will now be understood that when the motor is turning at idling speedall of the clutches are open and no power is transmitted from thedriving member to the driven member. If the clutch m q is closed undermanual control and the speed of the motor is increased the resistanceoffered by the comparatively weak springs permits the clutch z to beclosed and power to be transmitted from the driving shaft a through thegears b and c, the shaft 0 the clutch i, the gears 71. and q, the clutch111., q and the splined gear m to the driven shaft d. If the speed ofthe motor is further increased power is transmitted from the shaft athrough the gears b, c, the shaft 0 the clutch k, gearsl, p, the clutchm", q and the gear m to the driven shaft d at second speed. If the speedof the motor be still further increased power is transmitted from theshaft a through the sleeve member 72 and n and the clutch n direct tothe driven shaft d at a 1:1 speed ratio. If it should be desired totransmit power ata high ratio or in reverse, the gear 121. is shiftedunder manual control into engagement with the emergency gear or with thereverse gear and the power is then transmitted from the driving member athrough the gears b, c, the shaft 0 the clutch g and the emergency gearf or the reverse gear e, 'as the case may be, to the gear m, and thedriven shaft.

If the load should be increased during operation, as when a car movesfrom a level road, with the high speed gears in engagement, to a hill,the effect will be to slow down the car which will cause thedisengagement of the high speed clutch and engagement of a lower speedclutch and a corresponding increase in the torque.

If at any time the operator takes his foot from I at once slow down andall clutches will open. If it is then desired to utilize the brakingpower of the motor the brake is first applied to slow down the car andthe motor is then speeded up slightly to effect engagement of one oranother of the clutches, thus enabling the braking power of the motor tobe utilized. It will be obvious that if it is desired to make use of theemergency gear, or of the reverse gear the gears e, I, then rotating atidling speed, and the gear 112 is then moved into engagement with theemergency gear or the reverse gear, as the case may be. It is essentialto the accomplishment of applicants purposes that the clutches beoverrunning clutches, that is to say, that each clutch shall be of sucha character that it is effective only in one direction of rotation andas determined by the centrifugal action developed by a predeterminedspeed and that except at that predetermined speed it shall not effectoperative engagement. Only one clutch must be in operative engagement atone and the same time and all of the other clutches must be free runningwhen the one clutch is in engagement.

It will be understood that various changes in details of constructionand arrangement can be made to suit different conditions of use andthat, exceptas pointed out in the accompanying claims the invention isnot restricted to the particular construction shown and describedherein.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a power transmission device the combination of a driving member, adriven member, an

overrunning clutch operative in one direction of rotation onlyinterposed between said members, and speed actuated means actingdirectly on said clutch to control the engagement of the clutch, saidmeans including a device whereby said means in its initial movementcauses the clutch to effect driving engagement and whereby said means inits further movement disengages the clutch.

2. In a power transmission device, the combination of a driving member,a driven member, an overrunning clutch operative in one direction ofrotation only interposed between said members and comprising clutchrollers between the members of the clutch, speed actuated meansacting'directly on said clutch to move the rollers into and out ofeffective engagement with the clutch members, and springs independent ofsaid means and cooperating with the rollers to effect engagement withthe clutch.

3. In a power transmission device, the combination of a driving member,a driven member, an overrunning clutch operative in one direction ofrotation only interposed between said members, means acting directly onsaid clutch to control the engagement of the clutch, and centrifugalbodies carried with one of said members and in operative relation withsaid means, said means including a device whereby said means in itsinitial movement in one direction causes the clutch to effect drivingengagement and whereby said means in its further movement disengages theclutch.

4. In a power transmission device, the combination of a driving member,a driven member, an overrunning clutch operative in one direction ofrotation only interposed between said members and including movableclutch bodies, a ring mounted movably with respect to the clutch,devices movable with the rings first to permit the clutch to effectdriving engagement and in further movement to disengage the clutch, andcentrifugal bodies carried with one of said members and operativelyconnected with said ring.

5. In a power transmission device, the combination of a driving member,a driven member, an overrunning clutch interposed between said membersand comprising grooved clutch rollers between the members of the clutch,a ring movably mounted coaxially with the clutch, pins carried by saidring and having cam teeth for coaction with the grooved rollers, andcentrifugal bodies carried with one of said members and operativelyconnected with said ring.

6. In apower transmission device, the combination of a plurality of setsof speed changing gears, overrunning clutches in operative relation withsaid sets of gears respectively, speed actuated means acting directly onsaid clutch to control the engagement of the clutches, and devices tooffer yielding resistance to said speed actuated means, said devicessuccessively offering increased resistance, whereby each clutch becomesefiective at a different speed.

7. In a power transmission device, the combination of a plurality ofsets of speed changing gears, overrunning clutches in operative relationwith said sets of gears respectively, speed actuated means actingdirectly on said clutch to control the engagement of the clutches, andsprings to offer yielding resistance to said speed actuated-means, saidsprings successively offer ing increased resistance, whereby each clutchbecomes effective at a different speed.

GEORGE E. MOLYNEUX.

